To help us count everyone in Australia during the 2011 Census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics is seeking the advice and support of community focussed and government organisations in the preparation for the 2011 Census.

The 2006 Census achieved good outcomes in many regions. However, the results also showed us that we need to focus on improving coverage to ensure the Census count is the best possible. We aim to do this through initiatives that:

increase support for the Census at the community level

utilise local knowledge and intelligence

improve awareness of recruitment of Census field staff, and

raise awareness and promote the benefits of the 2011 Census.

We are looking to establish a network of organisations that are interested in the Census and making sure their community counts. We aim to involve this network of organisations in these initiatives. For more information and to be part of the planning for the 2011 Census, contact Pam Balfour, the South Australian Census Engagement Officer on 08 8237 7588 or email pam.balfour@abs.gov.au.

The Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) is used for the collection and dissemination of geographically classified statistics. The ASGC has formed the foundation of the statistical geography used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) since 1984. The ABS intends to replace the current ASGC with the new Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) through an implementation strategy commencing in 2011. The ASGS will be based upon mesh blocks creating more stable and consistent units than the ASGC. It will be the new basis for the publication of the complete range of ABS spatial statistics.

SA2s (which will replace Statistical Local Areas) are the key level in the ASGS as the majority of intercensal data will be available at this level. A draft set of SA2 boundaries for South Australia has now been prepared and the ABS is seeking comment from stakeholders. A consultation session will be run in the SA Office of the ABS on Monday 6 April at 10.00 a.m. If you are interested in attending, or would like a copy of the draft boundaries, please contact Pam Balfour on 08 8237 7588 or email pam.balfour@abs.gov.au.

SA Stats provides an overview of the SA population and economy. This publication is updated on a monthly basis, with most releases also featuring an article that provides a SA focus on economic, social and environmental issues.

SA Stats for December 2008 includes a new article on Energy Consumption in SA. This article looks at changes in energy consumption in SA and Australia since 1989-90, and how this relates to the size of the population and the structure of the economy.

January's feature article examines South Australian Household Final Consumption Expenditure. This article investigates how South Australians adjusted their household expenditure during a recent period of rising petrol prices.

The feature article looks at the recent increase in South Australia's Total Fertility Rate using data from Births, Australia (cat. no. 3301.0). The article examines fertility trends with regard to the age of mother and the relative socio-economic status of the region in which she lives.

This release presents a summary of results compiled from household use of information technology data collected from the Multi-Purpose Household Survey for 2007-08. It includes commentary on major trends in internet and broadband access and use across Australia. This release also presents selected results from the 2006 Time Use Survey, including the extent of teleworking in Australia and average minutes per day Australians spend using the internet.

In South Australia, 62% of households had access to the Internet at home and 42% had access to broadband at home. In comparison, for Australia 67% of households had access to the Internet at home and 52% had access to broadband at home. Of South Australians aged 15 years and over who used the Internet, 60% accessed the Internet at home and 31% accessed the Internet at work.

This publication contains monthly estimates of turnover for retail establishments. Trend, seasonally adjusted and original estimates are included for industry groups and states and Australia in current price terms. More detailed current price data classified by state and industry are available from the downloads tab on the ABS website.

For South Australia the seasonally adjusted estimate in January 2009 increased by 0.1% compared to December 2008. This follows an increase of 2.4% in December and 0.5% decrease in November 2008.

In original terms, South Australian turnover decreased by 23.3% in January 2009 compared with December 2008. Turnover of chains and other large retailers (which are completely enumerated) decreased by 24.2% in SA, while the estimate for 'smaller' retailers decreased by 21.4%.

Note that the retail trade trend series have been suspended as at November 2008 as it is not possible to determine the trend in retail turnover through the period affected by the Government's stimulus package and other influences associated with global economic conditions. For further information see Information paper: Changes to the Dissemination of Retail Trade Statistics, January 2009, (cat. no. 8501.0.55.005) a feature article in this newsletter.

This report, released by the Australian Centre on Quality of Life, at the Deakin University, provides a subjective measure of the wellbeing of the Australian population. This report focuses on the Personal Wellbeing Index, the average level of satisfaction across seven aspects of personal life; health, personal relationships, safety, standard of living, achieving, community connectedness, and future security. The index is constructed using data collected from a survey of a geographically representative national sample of Australians aged 18 years or over and fluent in English.

This report describes the wellbeing of Australians as represented by the averages of Statistical Sub Divisions (SSD) of Australia. Upper South East (SA) and Kangaroo Island/Yorke (SA) were in the top five SSDs in Australia with the highest levels of wellbeing. None of the five SSDs with the lowest levels of wellbeing were in SA.

This paper, released by the Parliamentary Library, provides tables and charts that allow comparisons between individual states and territories across a broad range of social and economic indicators. Each table contains data for the last five years. Topics covered include labour market, wage and prices, state accounts, business conditions, housing, financial management, exports and social statistics.

Findings for SA include:

Adelaide had a 17.5% increase in median house prices between 2006-07 and 2007-08, compared with an 8.8% increase for the weighted average for the eight capital cities in the same period.

The proportion of general practice attendances bulk billed in 2007-08 was 78.3% for South Australia, compared with 78.5% for Australia.

In 2007-08 SA had the second highest dependency ratio of all states and territories (50.2). This is a ratio of the economically inactive to economically active population. Tasmania had a higher ratio of 52.6.